OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2010. I had the working meeting with the President of Ukraine. First of all, I reported to the Head of the State on the results of the first half of the year. They are positive in nature, contain encouraging signals, but there are moments that require greater attention from the Government. During the first half of this year, growth in gross domestic product amounted to about 6.3% compared to the first half of 2009. Growth in industrial production, turnover, for the first time in many months, relative growth of the construction are reported. Certainly, the positive sign is the increase in domestic trade by 2,5%, but this is after months of contraction, fading trade.

There are also encouraging developments in external trade. We have significant export growth and improved balance of payments.

Consequently, all this are the positive reaction of markets to the improvement of the situation in the country. However, I, as always, remind that last year Ukraine had a catastrophic decline in economic indicators, and today's positive figures indicate not only the encouraging trend, but also on how much effort we still need to make to reach the pre-crisis level. This applies, above all, mining and smelting complexes, engineering, and construction. That is what the President drew the attention on.

Positive numbers will not have to reassure members of the Government, on the contrary, the maintenance of growth is becoming increasingly difficult, especially in a situation where the world market give conflicting signals.

The President also drew attention to the fact that the Government has taken necessary measures in order to avoid underestimation of prices for grain, the farmers are to sell grain of new harvest at market based prices. The Head of State supported the Government's measures on the use of the Agrarian Fund to stabilize the price situation.

Separately, we discussed the preparation of the budget for 2011. The President stressed that the budget is to play a stabilizing role, be the budget of austerity and efficient use of funds.

In this regard, I appeal to members of the Cabinet of Ministers, heads of ministries and departments with the requirement: do not even plan to use funds to purchase new vehicles, equipment, furniture, avoid spending money on office repairs, etc.

The same applies to the budget of this year. I give the order to the State Treasury to cease funding of spending units, if there will be similar facts. In addition, to cut off funding from both the general and the special budget funds.

I informed the President that during the operational meeting with the Prime Minister it was decided to reduce the cost of the vehicles and other non-social nature expenditures.

Particular attention is paid by the President to the need of hard uncompromising struggle against corruption. I must again appeal to members of the Government, heads of ministries and departments with a warning: our fight against corruption is not doing the campaign, PR. On the contrary, we do highly principled evaluation of who and how in their areas of responsibility is implementing the anti-corruption barriers.

The President is also interested in the progress of reconstruction in areas affected by natural disasters. We must make every effort to ensure that public funds allocated for the elimination of the natural disaster were used most productively.

Acts making for losses suffered by the people is coming to the end, therefore, first of all, it is necessary that people should have full financial aid. We allocate the funds from the Contingency Fund.

Among the issues, that we discussed with the President, was the process of harvesting. The situation is tense because of the weather, but it is controllable. It requires concentration of all organizational and technical resources, very accurate, rapid technology and people manoeuvre. In some regions and localities yield is rescued from the heat, in some - from sudden downpours.

We are fully confident that the Ministry of Agrarian Policy will cope with the situation where work is organized quickly, continuously. However, we understand the complexity of the situation and strongly support the farmers to avoid significant losses during harvesting and agricultural producers loss.

So, dear Viktor Slauta and Mykola Prysyajnyuk. I instruct you to make immediately a proposal what else could be done organizationally, financially to save the yield maximum and to support farmers.

Given the fact that due to difficult weather conditions, crop quality is not satisfactory, you should develop measures to maximize the collected food grains, to create sufficient public resources, and feed grain is to be used primarily in the domestic market capacity for livestock and deficits domestic production of meat on the domestic market.

Dear Colleagues! The holiday period and children's activities is in the midst. So far, we do not have considerable criticism for its organization. Therefore, first, I would like to thank all those who provide holidays for children and wish to pass all season successfully. I wish the children and parents to rest and recuperate well, with pleasure, to accumulate cheerfulness and health.

But, secondly, there already have been reports of cases of food poisoning. Dear all, that is what we were taught from childhood - the disease of "dirty hands". In addition that is the negligence of officials. I demand that the Minister of Health takes decisive action, including on staff. Urgently and decisively, Zinovy (Mytnyk). Certainly, there are all possibilities to prevent such incidents. Therefore, I strongly demand that the cases of poisoning of children simply would not exist.

Today, Ukraine is in the heat wave band that entails high risks for those who rest on the water, and forest and mountain bases, boarding houses, sanatoria. I strongly insist that everyone is to be mobilized now: doctors, sanitary-epidemiological control, rescue workers, fire-fighters, transport workers, workers of Water Affairs and Forestry. It is necessary to prevent crises, rather than eliminate their consequences.

Daily monitoring of the status of leisure places - on the main parameters of safety - daily monitoring of children's nutrition, daily commitment of necessary rescue equipment and related reserves - it is the law for our ministries and local administrations.

At that time, someone is resting, and someone makes one of the most important determining steps in the life. Opening campaign in high schools has begun. In several places it has began too snapping. Never seen before queues at the popular universities and institutions admissions, you know, do not show the increasing thirst for knowledge, but that the universities themselves and Ministry of Education did not organize the process properly. I warn the Minister D Tabachnyk, that the situation must be corrected. And it is necessary to tell all applicants that application deadline is extended, for example, for 2 weeks. It is necessary to take the floor and to speak directly.

The next question: tomorrow at the Cabinet of Ministers a big meeting will be held, where heads of regional administrations, heads of ministries and departments will be invited. First, the effectiveness of their work to reduce the arrears of salary, and secondly, the state of preparations for autumn-winter season will be considered. We will analyze not only the preparation of the housing stock and social infrastructure, but also the state of payments for utility services, preparation of public transport, as well as the readiness of health facilities to the traditional periods of diseases. That means the spectrum of issues will be broad.

Once again I want to note that we will not tell how to prepare, but the managers will be accountable, how they organized the work and how they perform tasks assigned by the President and the decision of the Government.

At the same time, I would like to hear a progress report on how things are on the unfinished buildings, which we included in the current program of commissioning, construction programs are already established for 2011-2012. The materials of the state statistics have one characteristic figure: the amount of work to prepare construction sites for January-July amounted to 101.5% compared with the same period of the last year. Work on new construction, reconstruction, technical re-constituted made about 80% of the total volume of construction work. In total 1.5%, but future construction moved forward. This is an example of how difficult it is to overcome the inertia of the recession, as it is difficult to restore the confidence in the economy to the economic policy. After all, the whole chain of construction activity: from lending and design to excavation and order structures, continues to fear risks.

I stress again that the preparation of new construction sites - is the main criterion for evaluating our efforts to restore the demand for housing and commercial property, and thus to restore the high pace of construction and to load - and I stress this - the industry of building materials and structures. Therefore, I repeat the tasks to the Vice-Prime Minister Tikhonov and the Minister of Construction Yatsuba: pay special attention to organization, design, unobstructed areas draw off, the infrastructure.

It is pleasant to see the reviving, breathing a good working rhythm of the construction sites, for example, transport interchanges, bridges, stadiums. Construction companies are deployed, suppliers of building materials have upgraded their production programs. All this conveyor will need volumes the next year and so on. To expect a gift in the form of surge in external demand is not worth. In fact, since April market is showing the decline in demand and prices for traditional products of Ukrainian exports. Simple answer: Is it a temporary adjustment of demand, or the trajectory of a recession, does not exist. Thus, it remains necessary to promote domestic demand.
The government systematically takes steps towards improving the management of state property, including through the planning of public enterprises. In particular, we must now consider the International airport "Borispol", Mariupol and Odessa Commercial Sea Port, the company Ukrhydroenergo "and others financial plan for 2010. Also, the Government will consider a plan of action to implement the National Security Strategy of Ukraine for 2010. This specific action of ministries and agencies aimed at preventing and eliminating threats to national security and interests of Ukraine.

Finally I wish to inform nice things. The Treasury has already completed the financing costs of the Pension Fund in July. Almost 5 billion UAH subsidies and 2.2 billion loan were transferred. Therefore, no issues with the payment of pensions exists. Nevertheless, there is something to think about, colleagues ...

Yesterday at the Air Show in Farnborough, there was a long-awaited breakthrough for the national Aircraft Building complex. several tens of ANTONOV aircraft family were contracted for supply to Russia, Asia and Latin American countries. Let us congratulate our domestic aircraft manufacturers.

Incidentally, this breakthrough is the visual evidence of that the resumption of cooperation with Russia, the unification effort are bearing fruits.